Society's ChildS

Battery

Iran explains why it needs nuclear program

Iran has explained why it needs a nuclear program, stressing that all nations should have the right to use peaceful nuclear energy.

Mohammad Saeedi, the deputy director for international affairs of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), issued a statement on Iran's nuclear program in a conference in Beijing.

The International Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century, organized by the IAEA, was hosted by Beijing, China from April 20 to 21.

Saeedi stressed that all countries should have the right to have nuclear power plants "without any discrimination."

Arrow Down

Russia's official unemployment swells to 2.26 million

Russian unemployment 2008
The official number of the unemployed people in Russia currently stands at 2.26 million, the country's Health and Social Development Ministry said on Tuesday.

In the week of April 9-15, the highest increases in unemployment were registered in the Kaliningrad Region, Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea, the central Russian Yaroslavl Region, the northwestern Novgorod Region, and Moscow, the ministry said in a statement.

Official figures record that a total of 329,016 people have been made redundant at 34,283 companies across Russia since October 2008. Of them, 103,725 have found new jobs.

Wolf

1,500 farmers commit suicide in India - GMOs and lenders to blame

Indian farmers
© UnknownThe Indian states where people heavily depend on agriculture are named the 'suicide belt'
More than 1,500 farmers in central India have reportedly committed mass suicide in the wake of crop failure and increasing debt.

The suicides took place in the agricultural state of Chattisgarh, where people mainly depend on seasonal crops, Earth Magazine reported.

Local residents told the magazine that many of the farmers felt that death was the only option in the face of their insurmountable debt.

The state of Chattisgarh was hit by falling water levels and droughts.

"Most of farmers here are indebted and only God can save the ones who do not have a bore well," residents said.

Cowboy Hat

Best of the Web: Did Paranoid Right-Wing Media Fuel the Pittsburgh Cop Killer's Rage?

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© UnknownAgent of hate?
On April 6, two days after the 22-year-old Richard Poplawski allegedly murdered three police officers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a radio host named Alex Jones settled in before a microphone in his studio in Austin, Texas to do some damage control. "The mainstream media has certainly enjoyed tying me into this story," Jones complained. "They're attacking me and saying I'm delusional and there's no New World Order, The Second Amendment, what the country's founded on--it's all my fault!"

Poplawski was a neo-Nazi wannabe who railed against blacks, Jews, "Zionists," and gun control. And like many members of the far-right fringe, he allegedly visited Jones' Web sites and posted alarming reports by Jones' writers on the white supremacist message board, Stormfront. (Poplawski's posts are here, authored under the handle, "Braced For Fate.") While Alex Jones generally avoids overt racism, he has found an eager audience on Stormfront by conjuring dark visions of an impending New World Order, claiming FEMA is secretly building a national concentration camp network, and announcing that President Barack Obama has planned mass gun seizures on his way to establishing a leftist dictatorship. "Remember, the first step in establishing a dictatorship is to disarm the citizens," warned a March 13 commentary on Jones' website, Prison Planet.

Comment: It's interesting to observe how Alex Jones is moving into ever higher circles.

From Political Ponerology we read:
In a pathocracy, all leadership positions, (down to local mayors and community officers, not to mention the directors of police units, special-services police personnel and activists in the pathocratic party in power) must be filled by individuals with corresponding psychological deviations, which are inherited as a rule. However, such people constitute a very small percentage of the population and this makes them more valuable to the pathocrats. Their intellectual level or professional skills cannot be taken into account selecting them for positions of power or influence, since those individuals who actually are competent in the specific jobs and also pathological (and therefore trustworthy to the regime) are even harder to find.

After such a system has lasted several years, one hundred percent of all the cases of essential psychopathy are involved in pathocratic activity; they are considered the most loyal, even though some of them were formerly involved on the other side in some way.

[...]

Goaded by their character, pathological deviants thirst for global power even though it would conflict with their own life interest. They do not understand that a catastrophe will ensue when they are finally exposed for what they are. Germs are not aware that they will be burned alive or buried deep in the ground along with the human body whose death they are causing.
From the Protocols of the Pathocrats:
Protocol No. 12 - Control of the Press

1. The word "freedom," which can be interpreted in various ways, is defined by us as follows -

2. Freedom is the right to do that which the law allows. This interpretation of the word will at the proper time be of service to us, because all freedom will thus be in our hands, since the laws will abolish or create only that which is desirable for us according to the aforesaid program.

3. We shall deal with the press in the following way: what is the part played by the press to-day? It serves to excite and inflame those passions which are needed for our purpose or else it serves selfish ends of parties. It is often vapid, unjust, mendacious, and the majority of the public have not the slightest idea what ends the press really serves. We shall saddle and bridle it with a tight curb: we shall do the same also with all productions of the printing press, for where would be the sense of getting rid of the attacks of the press if we remain targets for pamphlets and books? The produce of publicity, which nowadays is a source of heavy expense owing to the necessity of censoring it, will be turned by us into a very lucrative source of income to our State: we shall lay on it a special stamp tax and require deposits of caution-money before permitting the establishment of any organ of the press or of printing offices; these will then have to guarantee our government against any kind of attack on the part of the press.

For any attempt to attack us, if such still be possible, we shall inflict fines without mercy. Such measures as stamp tax, deposit of caution-money and fines secured by these deposits, will bring in a huge income to the government. It is true that party organs might not spare money for the sake of publicity, but these we shall shut up at the second attack upon us. No one shall with impunity lay a finger on the aureole of our government infallibility. The pretext for stopping any publication will be the alleged plea that it is agitating the public mind without occasion or justification. I beg you to note that among those making attacks upon us will also be organs established by us, but they will attack exclusively points that we have predetermined to alter. We control the press.

4. Not a single announcement will reach the public without our control. Even now this is already being attained by us inasmuch as all news items are received by a few agencies, in whose offices they are focused from all parts of the world. These agencies will then be already entirely ours and will give publicity only to what we dictate to them.

[...]

8. Literature and journalism are two of the most important educative forces, and therefore our government will become proprietor of the majority of the journals. This will neutralize the injurious influence of the privately-owned press and will put us in possession of a tremendous influence upon the public mind .... If we give permits for ten journals, we shall ourselves found thirty, and so on in the same proportion. This, however, must in no wise be suspected by the public. For which reason all journals published by us will be of the most opposite, in appearance, tendencies and opinions, thereby creating confidence in us and bringing over to us quite unsuspicious opponents, who will thus fall into our trap and be rendered harmless.

9. In the front rank will stand organs of an official character. They will always stand guard over our interests, and therefore their influence will be comparatively insignificant.

10. In the second rank will be the semi-official organs, whose part it will be to attack the tepid and indifferent.

11. In the third rank we shall set up our own, to all appearance, opposition, which, in at least one of its organs, will present what looks like the very antipodes to us. Our real opponents at heart will accept this simulated opposition as their own and will show us their cards.

12. All our newspapers will be of all possible complexions -- aristocratic, republican, revolutionary, even anarchical - for so long, of course, as the constitution exists .... Like the Indian idol "Vishnu" they will have a hundred hands, and every one of them will have a finger on any one of the public opinions as required. When a pulse quickens these hands will lead opinion in the direction of our aims, for an excited patient loses all power of judgment and easily yields to suggestion. Those fools who will think they are repeating the opinion of a newspaper of their own camp will be repeating our opinion or any opinion that seems desirable for us. In the vain belief that they are following the organ of their party they will, in fact, follow the flag which we hang out for them.

13. In order to direct our newspaper militia in this sense we must take special and minute care in organizing this matter. Under the title of central department of the press we shall institute literary gatherings at which our agents will without attracting attention issue the orders and watchwords of the day. By discussing and controverting, but always superficially, without touching the essence of the matter, our organs will carry on a sham fight fusillade with the official newspapers solely for the purpose of giving occasion for us to express ourselves more fully than could well be done from the outset in official announcements, whenever, of course, that is to our advantage.

14. These attacks upon us will also serve another purpose, namely, that our subjects will be convinced to the existence of full freedom of speech and so give our agents an occasion to affirm that all organs which oppose us are empty babblers, since they are incapable of finding any substantial objections to our orders. Only lies will be printed.

15. Methods of organization like these, imperceptible to the public eye but absolutely sure, are the best calculated to succeed in bringing the attention and the confidence of the public to the side of our government. Thanks to such methods we shall be in a position as from time to time may be required, to excite or to tranquillize the public mind on political questions, to persuade or to confuse, printing now truth, now lies, facts or their contradictions, according as they may be well or ill received, always very cautiously feeling our ground before stepping upon it ....

[...]
As everyone knows, this document was falsely attributed to the 'Elders of Zion' as part of a vicious anti-Semitic hoax. Sott.net agrees with this verdict. We do not for a minute think that this represents Judaism or ordinary Jewish people. The false attribution was clearly intended to scapegoat Jews in order to protect the identities of the real authors. The document was written in the early 20th century and reads like an insider's manual for designing and implementing totalitarian control of society. We are especially interested in the uncanny resemblance of its contents to whole swathes of the control system evident today. It is clear that some persons or groups unknown have taken its ideas and proscriptions very seriously.


Light Saber

Iran may seek compensation for seizure of suspected arms cargo

Iran has reserved the right to seek compensation for the seizure of a shipload of cargo by Cyprus at the direction of the United Nations Security Council, which says the goods are an illegal arms shipment.

Iranian officials have denied that the shipment on board the Cyprus-flagged MV Monchegorsk was weaponry, but have not said what it was. The ship was detained off Cyprus on Jan. 29 after it was boarded by U.S. naval personnel in the Red Sea.

A UN sanctions committee accused Iran last month of violating a U.N. ban on its import or export of arms. The ban is contained in a 2006 Security Council resolution aimed at pressuring Iran to suspend its nuclear enrichment program.

Hourglass

SOTT Focus: Connecting the Dots: Come join the New World Order! Pull some strings for Israel! But ignore those lights in the sky!

Mars Chastising Cupid
© Art Institute of Chicago'Mars Chastising Cupid', by Bartolomeo Manfredi
A year has passed since we began Connecting the Dots. We have made an effort to keep this little Lighthouse alight amidst the darkness as events unfold relentlessly, charting their line of force in the daily battle against subjectivity.

The Romans named this month Martius after the god of war, Mars. Before the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar, March was considered the first month of the new year. War, greed, plague and destruction marked the end of the Roman imperial adventure. Today's empire looks set to meet a fate essentially the same. Symbolic perhaps of its tenacity in the face of imperial pressure to conform, Iran still celebrates Nowruz, or 'New Day' on the 21st of the month, the Spring Equinox.

Comment: A reader has put forward the following suggestion regarding the nighttime photo of possible UFOs above :
Those are most probably not UFOs but reflections of the floodlights below caused by the photographic lens of the camera. And here is the reason why:

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Notice the similarity of the "UFOs" above to a so-called caustic (caused by spherical mirrors or lenses, for example in a tea cup), from Wikipedia:

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Photographic lenses can be complex, with many possibilities of distortions and reflections, which can produce lens flares, optical lens artefacts, etc. See:

Image
The same kind of "object" can be seen right in the beginning of this YouTube video, also linked to from the current "Connecting the Dots".

That is not to say that the UFO phenomenon is nonexistent! It seems just that the above picture slid into the dataset, which demonstrates how difficult it is to discern the (deliberate or unintentional) NOISE from the REAL SIGNAL.
It sounds like a plausible explanation. But then, who knows? In cataloging the bizarre sightings and events reported daily, there will inevitably be some that can be explained in accordance with known phenomena. On the other hand, learning to discern for ourselves also requires that we keep an open mind to all possibilities. We invite readers to explore the hundreds of sightings of objects that defy commonly accepted boundaries of what is possible and what is not.


Eye 1

Not in our village! Residents challenge Google Street View camera

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© PACorporate snoops: a Google Street View car with its camera mounted on the roof
Angry residents in Milton Keynes blocked the driver of a Google Street View car when he started taking photographs of their homes.

Police were called to Broughton after residents staged the protest, accusing Google of invading their privacy and "facilitating crime".

Councillor John Bint told the BBC the camera mounted on a car was intrusive and people should have been consulted.

Google said it observed UK law and only filmed from public areas.

Brick Wall

Russia's poor 'need crisis help'

russian poverty financial crisis
Russia's economy will shrink by 4.5% this year because of the global downturn, the World Bank has predicted.

The Bank said Russia, a major oil producer, would be particularly hard hit by the low price of oil.

It said the Kremlin should shift the focus of its anti-crisis programme to the poor because of "the threat of significant social pressure".

The Bank added that aid to Russia's poor might have the added benefit of stimulating domestic demand.

Alarm Clock

Few in flood zone have insurance

Moorehead, Minnesota - As the Red River crept within view of their backyard this past week, Denette and Billy Narum had an extra incentive to pray their sandbags held. Like most people in the path of potential floods, they have no flood insurance.

Fewer than 800 homeowners in the North Dakota and Minnesota communities most threatened by the swollen river hold insurance policies covering flood damage despite a decade-long push by state and federal officials to get people signed up, according to federal records obtained by The Associated Press.

Yoda

Bush Flees Civilians Enforcing War Crimes Act - Enforcers Arrested

Two civilians who tried to arrest George Bush while he was speaking in Calgary last Tuesday were instead arrested by Calgary Police. One man, Splitting The Sky, was held overnight in jail. Splitting The Sky, a resident of Chase, BC, was charged with assault of police officers and obstruction of justice. The second man, Kelly Hostland from Calgary, was released without charges.

The two men, not connected, were attending a protest rally against George Bush outside the Telus Convention Centre. Two other men were also arrested and have been released.

Under Canada's Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes Act (2000), anyone reasonably suspected of war crimes or crimes against humanity is indictable under the law, regardless of their status as leader of a nation. Section 6 of the Act explicitly points the responsibility for the crimes to the 'superior' or 'military commander'.
Enforcing war crimes act
Indigenous activist Splitting The Sky attempts citizen's arrest of war criminal George W. Bush.

Enforcing war crimes act